


Neil's Britishisms

by Kaatiba



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: 5+1 Things, British Neil Josten, British Slang, But the Foxes sure do, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Gen, Neil doesn't notice his own British accent popping out, Oblivious Neil Josten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-23 22:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19711081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaatiba/pseuds/Kaatiba
Summary: 5 Times Neil’s British pops out +1 time it takes over





	Neil's Britishisms

**Author's Note:**

> Mary Hatford is a true Brit and she's the one that raised Neil and was his sole companion throughout his formative years, so why wouldn't he have picked up bits of her accent and turns of phrase?

  1. “ **Plaster** ”



Neil limped off the court at half time covered in more scratches and bruises than most of his teammates.

This was mainly because he’d spent most of the first half antagonizing his mark, but it had been working like a charm. The apelike boy on the opposing team was getting sloppy in his frustration, and Neil was scoring and running circles around their defense, but at the expense of more racket swipes and body checks than normal.

Abby was on him the moment he exited the court surrounded by the foxes, all sweaty and breathing heavily, but happy with their lead nonetheless. 

“Where are you hurt?” He noticed she didn’t bother to ask if he was. They’d all noticed how the other team had started ganging up on Neil. 

He felt the weight of Andrew’s gaze burn the side of his face and was smart enough, contrary to popular belief, not to say “I’m fine.” He didn’t feel like earning the wrath of his own teammates as well that night.

“Sort of everywhere, but it’s nothing some ice and a few plasters can’t fix.”

The Foxes shared a few looks between them. Nicky laughed like Neil had made a joke.

“Plasters?” Dan asked, voicing the group’s surprise.

“Yeah, plasters,” neil shrugged, “you know the things you put on cuts?”

“You mean a Bandaid?” Aaron asked.

“No, that’s just the brand name everyone uses, the generic term is just bandage,” Kevin, of all people, chimed in, miraculously within sight of an exy court, but willing to talk about something else for a second. 

“Right, like saying Kleenex to mean any kind of tissue,” Matt supplied.

Allison cut the boys off, “While the linguistics of it all are very interesting, are we going to ignore the fact that Neil just used the British term for Bandaid without blinking?”

All eyes swiveled back to Neil who looked nonplussed. He shrugged, “My mom was British, and she’s the one who taught me how to read, and write, and speak. We also lived in England for a time.”

Neil had no idea why his use of British-English v. American-English was so fascinating to them, so he just turned to follow Abby into the lounge, but not before he heard Nicky whisper, “A hidden British accent? How can he get even more endearing?” 

  1. “ **Knackered”**



**“** We’re having a movie night in our dorm if you’re interested, Neil?” Renee asked him softly as the team returned to Fox Tower after an extra long practice.

Neil turned to Matt, Dan, and Allison apologetically, “I would, but I’m bloody knackered tonight,” he could barely even finish his sentence through a yawn and didn’t notice the ripple effects of his statement.

Nicky looked like he was about to burst. The upperclassmen were staring at Neil like he was a puppy with a bow around his neck they were desperate to squeeze.

But it was Andrew who kept them at bay, leading Neil forward with a barely there hand on the elbow and a soft “time for bed, Junkie.”

Neil just hummed tiredly, oblivious to the devastation left in his wake. 

  1. “ **Pissed** ”



Neil was sitting on the sofa when Nicky came in.

“Have you seen Kevin? I need to borrow his laptop.”

“He’s in the bedroom, but good luck. He’s pissed.”

Nicky scrunched his brow. “Pissed? Why? I haven’t even asked him yet.”

Neil shrugged, scrunching his brow as well, “You know Kevin, he’s always getting proper pissed with his vodka.”

“Ohhh,” Nicky said, “Kevin’s drunk right now?”

“Yeah,” Neil frowned, “that’s what I said.”

Andrew sat on the bean bag on the floor, quietly watching this whole exchange.

“200%” he murmured. 

  1. “ **Biscuit** ”



It was a Sunday and Abby had miraculously corralled all of the Foxes into her dining room for a team breakfast. It was predictably chaotic, but even Neil was impressed by her sheer willpower, and of course, her great cooking. 

When she asked Neil if he’d like a cup of tea, he responded so enthusiastically, it sent all the upperclassmen giggling like they were in on some big private joke. He ignored them and asked for Earl Grey. 

When she brought it out, he smelled the steam rising off of it and inhaled deeply. It reminded him of his mother, and for a second the nostalgia was overwhelming. 

In her softer moments, his mother sat down with him, offered him tea made with a shitty motel electric kettle, and complained about how much better a real “cuppa” was and how one day, they’d sit down together and have a proper afternoon tea. 

They never did. The closest they got was snagging some clearance tea biscuits from a grocery store during the holidays and eating them together while listening to the BBC Christmas broadcast from a dented portable radio. 

He turned to Abby almost shyly, “You don’t happen to have any biscuits do you?”

“Right here,” Matt started to pass the basket filled to the brim with buttermilk biscuits.

“Not, not those..nevermind.” Matt only looked slightly put out.

Abby just smiled at him softly.

“Next time, I’ll make a stop by World Market and buy some chocolate digestives.”

Neil thought about how Abby was too good for this world. 

  


  1. “ **Trainers** ”



Neil rummaged around his dorm dresser, but couldn’t find his shoes. Meanwhile, Kevin was waiting for him outside, and Neil could feel his impatience simmering from a distance and had no desire to get burned by it. He continued his frantic search while Andrew watched impassively on the bottom bunk.

Finally Neil turned around to him beseechingly, “Have you seen my trainers anywhere?”

“250%”

Neil stood there confused before Andrew reached under the bed and pulled out the subject of Neil’s hunt just to chuck them at him. 

Neil smiled as he caught them, “thanks.” 

Finally, Kevin came storming in.

“What’s taking you so long!” he looked down at Neil, “Put your sneakers on already, we don’t have all night!”

Neil caught on and smirked. And if he noticed Andrew “fancying” his ass as he bent over to tie his shoes, he didn’t say anything. 

  


**+1**

Neil and Kevin were bickering again at practice. It had started off in French, then got so heated that they’d both defaulted to their native language so they could fluently express their disgust for each other. 

“You can’t keep slacking off! Ever since you and Andrew-”

“Oh bugger off, Kevin! I can’t be arsed with all your bloody rubbish right now!”

“I-”

“You heard me, arsehole, stow the rubbish until practice is over.”

“Neil I think-”

“That all of my plays are cock-ups, yes mate, I’ve heard you loud and clear!”

“No, Neil, I think Nicky’s about to pass out.”

Neil turned around, and surely enough Nicky looked ready to die. 

“Dear God, why did you have to make him cluelessly British on top of everything else?”

  



End file.
